An Easy Way to Protect Your Intellectual Property

One question I get on a regular basis is from companies wondering how to get the maximum exposure for their white papers and other material but not loose complete control over their intellectual property. In this free-wheeling time, if you place too many restrictions on your Web-based material, no one will quote from it or pick it up in various blogs and other sites (which is often the point).

So Doc is a big fan of the nonprofit Creative Commons folks, who provide an open and cost-free way to establish copyright and clearly define what others can do with your material.

Creative Commons is dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. They provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry so that others can share it, remix it, use it commercially, or any combination thereof.

The following describes each of the six main licenses offered when you choose to publish your work with a Creative Commons license. They items are listed starting with the most accommodating license type you can choose and ending with the most restrictive license type you can choose:

• Attribution. This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work—even commercially—as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered in terms of what others can do with your work licensed under Attribution.
• Attribution Share Alike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use.
• Attribution No Derivatives. This license allows for redistribution—both commercial and noncommercial—as long as it is passed along unchanged and whole, with credit to you.
• Attribution Non-Commercial. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially. And although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don't have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
• Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute your work just as the by-nc-nd license, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on your work. All new work based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature.
• Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives. This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, allowing redistribution. This license is often called the free advertising license, because it allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they mention you and link back to you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.

Doc thinks that you should consider a Creative Commons license for much of your work—perhaps even your entire Web site. It says to the world that you are willing to share your content freely as long as it is shown certain respect and credit.